The Ames City Council is moving forward with its goal to create and promote a community vision, and all Ames residents are encouraged to get involved. An online survey has been developed to seek input on what makes Ames a great place to live, but also what challenges and opportunities to consider. Beginning Tuesday, March 15, the online survey will be available as a link off the City of Ames website at http://www.cityofames.org.

Community visioning is a process that allows residents to express what they value about their city and develop consensus on what they would like to change. The process includes a realistic look at a community and focuses on long-range goals. Throughout February, Brand Endeavor held meetings with more than 40 representatives from businesses, non-profits, health care, schools, neighborhoods, and more. This first step helped to establish some preliminary data about our community’s strengths, challenges, and opportunities. The online survey will remain on the City’s website through Thursday, March 31.

Please get involved in the Ames Visioning Project by sharing your thoughts and building a brighter future for Ames!

The DSM Register this morning cited a National Association of Realtors® statistic that 40% of all sales nationwide were short sale or REO or Foreclosure properties in February. How do we fare in Central Iowa? To some extent, it depends. While we are much healthier than the nation as a whole, some of our local markets are better than others.

REO, short sale and foreclosure residential properties listed for sale on the Central Iowa MLS as a percentage of all residential listings.

The U.S. economy has been through one of the worst financial downturns since the Great Depression over the last two years. Since real estate was on the forefront of the crisis and home values plunged dramatically in many communities, many Ames residents have wondered how the crisis affected prices of homes here.

As the chart below demonstrates, Ames fared very well during the turbulent times of the last two years. Historically, Iowa avoids dramatic booms and busts in the real estate market and the numbers below depict another example of this stability. The slight dip in 2010 can be somewhat attributed to the 1st time buyer tax credit, as it encouraged sales of homes in the lower price ranges.

Being a home owner is more than just having a roof over your head. Home ownership instills feelings of comfort, security, stability and pride. However, in addition to these important benefits are substantial social benefits for families, communities and the country as a whole. A few of these benefits are:

There are many factors to consider when evaluating if renting or buying is better at any given time. Every person’s situation is different. Contact us for a no obligation consultation to find out about your options.